redhorseranch.vacation

I got a new horse who is a 3 year old mustang. He was a criptorchid so has some extra hormones making him feel very studly. I sent him to a trainer who did very well with him for 2 months. When he first arrived to me, he did pretty will and I was working to teach him to be comfortable in the trailer, and to lead and go forward when asked. We spent time learning to be tied and groomed and saddled. After 3 weeks, he began rearing up with me and he was not doing that well with the leading exercises. He also began nipping at me. I realized that this horse could read all of my thoughts. At the trainer, they really enjoyed him and thought he was very sweet and wanted to be good. He never reared, nipped or set back against being tied. When I got him back home, after a week, he began rearing up again and biting at me. He always hung his penis out when I was around. He had me pretty scared and feeling uncomfortable around him. The trainer came to help me and we changed only a few little things and he got a bit better with me, but continued to have the penis out and nip at me. I still did not feel comfortable around him. The first day I tried the trust technique, I did use a stick at my side to help me feel safe. If he kept a healthy distance from me I would scratch him with the stick. Within 30 minutes of having my mind slow down and focus on peacefulness. The mustang laid down next to me and put his head on my lap. The next day I hung out with him, but I had a couple of phone calls that interrupted our work. The third day I hung out with him outside of the fence for 30 min and he relaxed but after half an hour left to go nibble on hay. I entered the pen and he engaged with me. I tried a bit of liberty stuff with him. I learned how to stop when things were not going as I intended, refocus, and retry. The session was an hour long and we did very well. I will continue for several more days and hope to get him to lay down with me again. Then I will continue to work with him on ground manners, grooming, hoof work, and leading in the arena. I found the experience very rewarding.